


Run To You

by thestrangeladymalz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Original Characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-26
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2017-12-03 18:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/701077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestrangeladymalz/pseuds/thestrangeladymalz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The daughter of August and Emma, Amelia Booth is a teenage girl trying to live a life in a town still full of magic, fairy tales and old stories, enough to make anyone go mad. But when the son of a pirate and a werewolf, Peter Jones comes into her life, she finds herself writing her own tale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I find myself unable to keep these two in my head, so a fic was a must. Dedicated to snarkysweetness for being an amazing person and making Amelia the perfect pair for Peter

It was supposed to be a good day, but something about it was off. Amelia Booth sat at her table at Granny’s, her eyes switched back and forth from the nearly indecipherable scribble of her calculus notes to the hustle of the diner around her. The month of April brought a lot of cool rain from the gray skies and the bell of the door rang every time someone entered to escape the weather. She could hear the drum of the rain against the window behind her hitting harder and harder, she could only guess that they were in for quite the storm tonight. It was a good thing she decided to study here instead of her usual spot in the park, so she managed to avoid being drenched.

She also got her spot in the diner before the rush came in. There was only one thing that could make it better, Amelia thought, and her eyes locked on the lone pie sitting in the glass cooler. The last slice of Banana Cream Pie was just calling her name, although to uncross her legs, get up from the chair and walk over to the counter to ask for it just seemed like too much of a pain. Amelia’s brow lowered at her lazy, inert state and she popped a fry into her mouth.

Storybrooke, Maine was a small, out of the way town that was filled to the brim with magic and classic story book characters. It was enough to make anyone doubt their sanity. Not even joking, Amelia’s parents were the ’savior’ and Pinocchio. Her grandparents once went by the names Snow White and Charming. Three of the seven dwarves lived across the street, Jiminy Cricket was the town shrink and Frankenstein worked at the hospital.

Someone should make a television series out of this town.

As crazy as it all sounded, Amelia didn’t doubt or even try to deny any of it. This place was full of magic. It was proof enough that her fries were still piping hot after sitting on her plate for half an hour.

She rubbed her eyes and forced herself to focus on the numbers, letters and lines that filled the ruled paper in front of her. She had to stop this staring contest with the last piece of pie; Amelia needed to burn these theorems and formulas into her brain.

The dull sound of a ceramic plate hitting her table broke her already weak concentration and she stared at the thick piece of banana cream pie in front of her. “I didn’t-”

“It’s on the house.”

Amelia’s eyes widened at the sound of a familiar voice and she looked up to meet the incredible blue ones of Peter Jones. Anything math related vanished from her mind in the instant his eyes locked onto hers. Peter just smiled at her, a ridiculous, small, smirk of a smile and set down a fork next to the plate.

“You’ve been staring at that pie since you got here.”

Amelia pursed her lips together. “I have not.” His head tipped to the side, he didn’t believe her for even a moment. Amelia exhaled in defeat and dragged the plate closer to her, taking a quick sample of the cream with her finger. “Curse you, Peter Jones.”

Whatever off feeling she had about the day evaporated with the sweet taste of cream in her mouth, and of course, the sight of the boy in front of her. Peter Jones was notorious enough by namesake alone. He was the only son of Ruby and Killian Jones, and because of that he was branded as trouble, specifically so by her mother. He was a year older than her, tall, dark and handsome, he sure was his father’s son. More quiet though. More kind.

Amelia took a bite of pie and watched Peter sit down across from her, not saying a single word, he just sat and watched as she devoured the pie, down to the very last pieces of graham cracker crumbs. “Mmh, your mother sure knows what she’s doing.”

“Actually…” Peter reached over and took the plate from her. “I made that one.”

“Well, look at you. At least you’re a better cook than your father.” Amelia giggled, bringing up old memories of _pirate’s night_ Killian became hell bent on having years ago, back when Granny was still alive and hounding him to start pulling his weight at the diner. They were only children then, but she could starkly remember the sharp and rancid taste of some of his dishes. Ruby thought he made the food horrible on purpose. Amelia was sick for days after that.

“I’m pretty sure everyone is a better cook than my dad, but I will take compliments where I can get them.”

“It’s well deserved, the pie was amazing.” A grin spread across her face, one that faintly diminished after she spotted a few pairs of eyes staring in her general direction, although she felt unsure about the reason behind the stares. The thoughts were dismissed when she focused again on Peter and he pushed his dark hair to the side. She took a deep breath. “Peter, I-”

“Peter!” Ruby’s voice called out, and before Peter himself could get out of his seat, she came up behind him, serving platter on one hand and a white paper bag in the other. “Have you seen your father about? I send him on a delivery three hours ago.”

Peter shrugged. “He’s probably with Uncle Grumps, always is.”

With a roll of her eyes, Ruby sighed. “Figures. I swear that man spends more time with the dwarf than he does me… Hi Amelia. Nice you see you.” Ruby’s expression changed with a flash, her tired face becoming youthful again with a bright smile. “Anyway, this is for Archie.” She set the bag down in front of Peter. “And go find your father, drag him here if you have to. I have work for him to do.”

“Yes ma‘am.” Peter nodded as Ruby walked away to tend to the tables. He took no time undoing the apron from around his waist, exchanging it for his jacket that hung on the hook. Through that, he never took his eyes off of Amelia and gave her a faint smile. “See you later, Amelia Booth.”

Her hand uncurled and waved. “Until then, Peter Jones.” She watched as he disappeared outside, where the rain had finally stopped. As soon as he was out of sight, Amelia gathered up her books and set out appropriate change to cover the fries and coffee. There was no way she would be able to concentrate at the diner. Not with her stomach fluttering about like this. 

* * *

 

Amelia managed to find solace at the library and was able to finish up most of her homework there before deciding to finally head home. She didn’t want to be late for dinner, not when Henry was coming over. Her older brother was busy enough, she barely got time to see him. He did come over once a week for dinner. It was a nice change of pace, the entire Booth family in one setting, although it would sometimes take a turn for the worst.

The books hung heavy in her bag as she finally reached the rather large house she called home. It wasn’t until she opened the door to see her mother leaning against the table, staring at her that her book bag felt like a ton of weights on her shoulder.

Amelia rolled her eyes because she knew exactly what this was about.

“Amelia-” Emma started.

“No, we are not having this discussion.”

“I thought I told you not to hang around Peter Jones.”

Amelia could have thrown her hands up in the air if they weren’t being forced down by an incredible amount of anger. “Do you know how small this town is? He works at the diner and unless you expect me to never leave the house, there is a very good chance that I will see Peter around. And besides, you don’t get to dictate who I see and when I see them.”

Emma Booth had a stone set expression on her face. As Sherriff, she had her run-ins with the Jones family, particularly Killian and Peter. Amelia was sure that those two could account for most of the wrinkles and half of the grey hair that settled on Emma features. Amelia knew their files down at the station; they were not small.

Emma started to spout her same old speech about what a bad kid Peter was, the same, word for word lecture Amelia had been hearing for years. She caught a glimpse of her father standing in the kitchen, who just shrugged in her direction. “He is a delinquent, Amelia.” Emma finished.

That statement just made her scoff. “So were you.”

“That’s different-”

“No! It’s not. He is not a bad person, no matter what you or anyone else in this town make him out to be!” Amelia snapped, her hands balling into fists around the strap of her bag. Five minutes home and she was already sick of it. “I’m going to my room, you can tell Henry, whenever he gets here, that I’m not feeling well or something.”

She stomped up the stairs and wasted no time slamming the door to her room. Amelia dumped her bag in the corner and fell onto her bed, face in her pillow.

She loved her family. She loved her mother and her father, and she loved Henry too, but if they weren’t just the most infuriating…

Her body was just as tired as her mind, she didn’t know how long she laid there until she heard a knock at her door. She didn’t even say anything, but she heard the creaking of the hinges and heavy footsteps across the floor that stopped at the foot of her bed. Amelia sat up and turned to face her father looking down at her.

“I am not really in the mood, dad.”

“None of us really are.” August replied to his daughter, touching the top of her head.

“Do you really hate Peter that much? You know he isn’t his dad.”

August sat down next to Amelia on the bed. “I don’t hate either of them, that is more of your mother’s thing, but she has her reasons.”

“Right, the whole evil revenge thing from years ago.” Amelia exhaled sharply. “It’s not fair that she is blaming Peter for what his dad gets into. And it’s not like I was banging him behind the diner, nothing like that has ever happened and I doubt it ever will. We were at the diner at the same time and Mom acts like I’m planning on running away with him.”

“You know how your mother gets, she just doesn’t want you to get hurt-”

“Like she did… yeah, I’ve heard this before.”

August sighed. “Just… don’t get too mad at your mother.” He got up and walked to the door, giving Amelia a quick smile. “Are you coming downstairs for dinner?”

She leaned back on the bed. “No,” Amelia waved him off. “I’m just going to read and call it an early night.” She watched her father nod before he left, closing her door behind him. Amelia waited a few moments before she reached over and grabbed a sweater from the edge of her bed and quickly made her way to her window. The air was warmer now that the rain had stopped, and she opened the window wide and climbed out, her foot finding the notches in the trellis that scaled the side of the house. As soon as her feet hit the lawn she took off, jogging fifty feet or so away from her house before she slowed down to a walk. She just needed a bit of fresh air, and walking down the stairs would have prompted some conversation from the family that she just wasn’t interested in listening to.

Amelia headed into town, if she walked to the docks and back, she would probably be gone long enough for everything in the house to quiet down. Her mother made her so angry. How did she even know? Who from the diner had gone and told her mother that she was with Peter? She groaned out loud, he just brought her pie and sat down to talk, maybe he was just on his break and needed a place to sit. Emma just had to overreact to everything when it came to the Jones family. Emma and Ruby were friends but even that didn’t seem to calm her down. She was pretty sure that her dad and Killian were friends too… although she couldn’t really be sure. Killian Jones was certainly a complicated man.

Pulling her sleeves over her hands to keep them warm, Amelia continued through town at a rather fast pace until she reached the familiar scene of the docks. There sat the Jolly Roger, a landmark in Storybrooke, still tall and proud even though it wasn’t used properly anymore. Amelia walked to the edge of the dock and leaned her body against the railing. It was late enough for the sky to have gone completely dark, whatever clouds that had brought the rain were gone now, leaving the sky completely clear. The moon made the water shimmer like silver. This was Amelia’s second favorite place. It was quiet, no one was around except for a few solo fisherman that kept to themselves, and that was all she really needed.

The sound of footsteps made Amelia break her focus away from the water, she turned to see someone running up to where she was standing. A smile stretched across her face as a bare-chested Peter came into view, his eyes and familiar smirk pointed at her.

“If it isn’t Peter Jones, h-” Amelia was cut off as Peter reached her, his hands cupped her face and pushed his mouth to hers. The physical force sent her back against the railing, one hand wrapped around it to maintain her balance. It felt like an eternity, his sweaty body pressed against hers, his hot breath against her lips and skin as Peter kissed her. With each passing moment it grew more fierce and passionate and Amelia could only return the actions, her free hand ran over his bare skin as the rest of her body felt the shock and the fire of his.

As quick as it came, Peter drew back and Amelia opened her eyes to his wicked grin and deep breathing. She was speechless, her lips tingled, her whole body buzzed with sensation. She just watched as he smiled, slowly stepping backwards.

“You are quite the marvel, Amelia Booth.” He told her before running off, leaving her in a numb daze as to what had just happened. She turned back to the water, both hands on the railing as though if she let go her body would drop below the docks.

Her breath finally returned to normal and Amelia wiped her mouth with the edge of her sleeve, her mind running at a million miles a minute. She didn’t understand, Peter was always _just a boy_ , he was there, never before had there been any indication as to what had just happened. There was a bit of flirtation here and there, but this was Peter Jones, his quiet banter was always a little flirtatious, no matter who he was talking to. But she couldn’t stop smiling, his last words echoing in her mind.

The full moon shone brightly and two piercing howls brought her numb senses to attention. With that, she turned and headed back in the direction of her house. Somehow her weak knees were able to carry her still. Through the thick fog of confusion that clouded her mind, there was only one thing that Amelia could grasp onto as a coherent thought concerning all of this.

She was in trouble. 


	2. Chapter 2

It had been two days. Amelia was sitting in her seventh period class, resisting the urge to chew on her pencil. The words in her text book just floated off the page, she couldn’t concentrate even if she tried, the silence in the classroom was almost nauseating, and it took every ounce of strength she possessed to stay in her seat. Honestly she just felt like she wanted to jump out of the nearest window for no reason at all.

Alright, that was a lie. The reason was Peter. 

Her mind reeled at the thought of him, the thought of the last time she had seen him. Two days ago. On the docks. When he came out of nowhere and kissed her, then just walked off. 

_You are quite the marvel_ , he had said. Those words, and whatever he had meant by them, echoed in her head. Over and over again she could hear them, she could see him and she couldn’t think of a single thing other than him. He had gotten under her skin and into her head. Part of her was angry the son of Killian Jones had gotten to her. What made her even angrier was the fact that the stupid grin on her face wouldn’t go away. 

As soon as the last bell rang, Amelia had her books in her arms and rushed out the door. She needed a quiet place, away from just about everything. The well, maybe. That was a good spot. For the last two days she had made an attempt to avoid Peter, which she would have expected to be rather difficult since Storybrooke was small and Peter himself was an odd jobber, taking work where he could, but it was easier than she had expected. Mainly because Peter was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t seen him at the diner or the park, or anywhere for that matter. Even her mother had been unusually quiet about him. She didn’t know if that made her nervous or grateful. Peter seemed to make everything complicated. 

Amelia wove through the crowd of students in the hallways, talking about their plans for the weekend, getting ready to head home. Amelia herself was walking against the flow of traffic, heading to the back of the school. There was a door that lead her to a path through the forest to the park, and considering it was a nice day Amelia had no second thoughts about where she wanted to go. The park was one of her favorite places. 

Her hand was reaching out to push the door open when she caught sight of someone through the narrow window that made her stop dead in her tracks. Her hand hovered just inches from the door, as if touching it would alert him to her presence. 

There was a boy sitting on the picnic table outside of the school, his bare arms and torso completely still with the exception of an occasional deep breath. He was all alone, facing the woods that the school property opened onto. Although she couldn’t fully see his face, Amelia knew who it was. 

Peter Jones took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. Although his back was to her, Amelia could have sworn he was crying, but before she could move, he got up from the table, a shirt in his free hand and he walked into the midst of the trees. She stood there, silent and still, until his body disappeared from view. 

Suddenly she didn’t feel like going to the park anymore. Amelia turned on her heel and walked in the other direction. She was going to study at the library again. At least Peter wouldn't be there. Belle wouldn't let him in without his shirt on.

She sent a text to her mother, in response to the five Emma had sent as soon as school let out, to tell her she was at the library. It was no surprise when five minutes after Amelia sent it, the library phone rang, Belle answered and although she couldn't hear what she was saying, she looked right at her. Amelia rolled her eyes and gave Belle a small smile as if their eye contact was a coincidence. 

It took her a while to finish up the majority of her homework, and when she was tired of staring at the blurred words scrawled in her copy of Romeo and Juliet, Amelia gathered her things and headed out. 

Her intention was to go straight home, but when she passed the diner, Amelia stopped for a moment before she decided to step in for a moment. For whatever reason, she was unsure, but then again, her mind hadn't been very clear for the past few days.

It was nearly empty, to her surprise, only Doctor Hopper was in and he was already getting his coat from the rack, holding a bag of leftovers. He nodded to her, gave her a quiet greeting and passed behind her to leave. Now it was empty. 

She spotted Ruby around the corner on the far side of the diner, a stressed look on her usually young face. She didn't seem to notice Amelia's presence, her arrival and Doctor Hopper's departure only caused the bell to ring once, Ruby probably didn't know she was here.

"This is the last thing we need to happen right now. What do you mean, you lost him?" She said in an angry hushed voice.

"What I mean, love, is that he refuses to let me find him," said a voice that could only belong to her husband. Amelia saw the glint of his hook as it caught light. "This is your curse, you know more about it than I do. Can't you do anything for him?"

Ruby sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've been trying." Her brows knit together and Killian stepped forward to place his good hand on Ruby's arm. "I've worked on this with Peter for years, I’ve taught him everything I learned from my mother, from the pack, but there’s something wrong..."

Amelia stepped closer to them and opened her mouth before she even processed what she was doing. "What's wrong with Peter?"

Ruby's expression melted from stress into surprised at Amelia's intrusion, Killian, on the other hand, turned to glare at her. "Nothing of concern to you, Swan girl."

"Killian..." Ruby warned him.

Without missing a beat Amelia snapped back. "I'm not a Swan, I'm a Booth."

"Is there a difference?"

Ruby hit his chest with the back of her hand. "Killian, stop."

He turned back to his wife, "No, the last thing we need is the Swan girl dragging her bloody mother into this," He just gave Ruby a look and turned to walk away, past Amelia, and he left the diner, slamming the door behind him.

Ruby gave an exasperated sigh before giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Amelia."

She shook her head, "No, it's fine..." Amelia was no stranger to family arguments. She bit her bottom lip. "Is Peter okay?"

Ruby stared at her for a moment before her face softened, a small smile stretched her lightly painted lips. "He'll be alright, Peter is just a little..." She struggled for a word. "...overwhelmed. He'll be alright," Ruby repeated herself before moving towards the diner's kitchen. "Would you like something to eat?"

Amelia pressed her lips together, stringing together thoughts of seeing Peter before, to Ruby and Killian's conversation, to Ruby's words just then. She set them aside and returned Ruby's smile with one of her own. "I would never say no to a grilled cheese."

-

Amelia sat at the diner and ate, finished her homework and enjoying the slow but steady flow of traffic through the diner. With the occasional refilling of Amelia's soda, Ruby kept herself busy with other things and people around the diner, but she could tell that there was something else weighing on the woman's mind, which only solidified the feeling that things with Peter were much worse than Ruby had assured her. 

She had spent hours there, and Amelia didn't even notice all the time that passed by. She took out a blank notebook after she finished with her work and there were now at least fifteen pages full of scribbles and notes about everything and anything. 

She was her father's daughter; Amelia Booth was a writer and often she found the best way to organize all the thoughts that rolled around in that blonde head of hers was to write it down. Ruby had kept her going with a steady supply of drinks and an occasional snack, but it wasn't until a group of giggly girls from school came in that she realized how late it was. 

She watched them out of the corner of her eye as she tried to focus on a web of story ideas written on the open page, she noticed as Ruby took their order and went back to the kitchen, out of earshot, and that was when they started giggling more. 

"Did you see that group of boys at the park?" 

"The ones with Peter, hell yes."

"Where did they come from?"

"Out of town, they showed up a couple days ago. Thank god, too, this town needs a bit more heat."

Amelia's brow knitted together as she heard their conversation, she watched Ruby from a distance, carefully. Was she hearing this? She had wolf hearing, right? The girls were talking in hushed voices, Amelia herself could barely hear them.

"...still think Peter has the best body, but that tall blonde one? Uh, he could give Peter a run for his money..."

She heard a bit more bits from them before Ruby returned with their drinks and food, her face giving nothing away. If she had heard anything they said, Amelia couldn't tell. But there was one thing for sure, she needed to find Peter. If he was in trouble, if it was caused by those boys showing up in town… well, she just needed to find him.

Amelia got up and tossed a few crumpled dollar bills on the table, leaving the diner with a quick wave goodbye to Ruby and made a beeline for the park, her feet moving faster and faster. She passed Henry's house and tossed her backpack behind one of the large bushes, a safe place to stash it for now, and continued on her way. Without the weight of her books it was easier to keep up the pace. 

She could see the park now, and her cell phone buzzed in her back pocket. She didn't even bother looking at who it was and just ignored the call. She needed to find Peter. After days of trying to ignore him, she felt this pull at her chest, one that wouldn't let up until she found him. 

It was dark, it had been sunset when she left the library, but she was unsure how late it actually was. The moon shone bright above her, giving the entire park a silver glow. Amelia pulled her sleeves over her hands as she walked around the edge of the playground area, where the woods began. 

She shouldn't be there, she should just go home. 

Amelia stepped hesitantly into the woods, her palms resting on the trunks of the trees to prevent her from running into or falling over anything. She went deeper and deeper, looking over her shoulder now and then and watched the lights from the town as they were steadily suffocated by the tree branches. 

Eventually she heard sounds that did not come from her own body. Laughter, movement, the sound of boys having fun. Amelia did her best to prevent herself from making too much noise and saw a group of standing bodies in a small clearing, she hid herself behind a tree, slowly peeking out to try and make out who these people were. 

There was Peter, and although standing, he wasn't moving much. His back was to her, but she knew it was him. There was also a tall blonde boy who was laughing. Two dark haired boys, although she couldn't see them too well and another one, his face too shadowed for her to see anything. She couldn't really hear them say anything, but her eyes focused on Peter, standing in the middle of the group, looking down at the ground. 

"I have to say, Pete, that was impressive. So aggressive," The blonde walked up and slapped his own bloody hand down on Peter's shoulder. "You are learning quickly..." He leaned in, whispering something in Peter's ear, but Peter didn't move.

Amelia leaned further out, trying to get a better view, when a hand touched her shoulder. Before she could let out a noise she was turned around and someone's hand pushed against her mouth, muffling any sound she might make. 

She looked up into the flashing eyes of one of the dark haired boys. "Look at what we have here. Hey Dev, we got some fresh meat here."

Amelia pushed at him, but in the time it took her to blink she was pulled from behind the tree to the middle of the clearing, her arm still being held by the boy. Her eyes focused and she let out a scream, muffled still by the boy's hand, at the sight of a mangled corpse on the ground and of Peter covered in blood. 

The blonde boy, the one she figured was named Dev, pointed at Amelia. "Girls taste better. A little sweeter. Softer."

Her eyes became blurry with tears and she felt her knees weaken, the only thing keeping her from falling was the boy's grasp on her arm, which felt like a death grip. She pushed him away with as much might as she could muster. "Peter-" She let out as his hand fell away from her mouth, causing Peter's face to snap to hers. His blue eyes were glowing gold, from his hand dangled a gold chain woven with red thread, a round medallion at the bottom. He wore that, she knew, often. He rarely took it off from around his neck. 

Blood was caked around his mouth, dripping from his chin. Peter's eyes were cold, dead, almost lifeless, and they gave Amelia shivers down her back, even moreso than the sight of the dead body. 

"Go on, Peter. She'll be easy." Dev whispered to Peter, who barely reacted. Amelia let out a whimper and the hand on her arm tightened. "Their bones snap a lot easier than his did."

"Peter no-" She let out a gasp of pain as the hand tightened even more, cutting her off. It was as if that set something off in Peter, something snapped him out of the trance he was in, because he suddenly stood up straight, his hand moved and shoved Dev to the ground, faster and harder than Amelia could have guessed. 

"Not her," He seethed, his voice full of anger. In a blink of an eye, Peter shoved the brown haired boy holding Amelia away from them. He released her, sending Amelia tumbling to the ground, her face landing close to where the corpse’s face would have been, were it still there. Amelia shut her eyes and turned her body away, pressing tears down her cheeks. She tried to push herself up but she fell back down, she sat on the soft grass, keeping her eyes closed because she was afraid to open them and just hoping that this was just a dream, just a nightmare.

It wasn’t until a hand gently touched her shoulder that she finally did open them, and there was Peter, his mouth and chin still painted crimson with blood, but his eyes… slowly the gold faded into the light shade she remembered but fear still contorted her face, made another set of tears fall from her eyes. 

His hand reached and cupped her face, his thumb wiped away the tears, leaving a thick smear of blood across her face, everywhere he touched, her shoulder, her cheeks, left a print of someone’s blood on her. 

Carefully, as if it was his first time, Peter drew her in and wrapped his arms around her. Amelia visibly shook, she could feel her bones rattling and when he let her go, he stared at her for what seemed like the longest moment she had ever known before he took off. 

Once again Peter left her stunned and unable to move, this time, sitting next to a dead man. 

Amelia crawled away, making it a few feet before she found herself able to walk. Once she did, she kept walking, arms crossed and set in stone, and she didn’t stop until she got home. 

She didn’t even bother to take her secret route up to her room. She just walked right in the front door. 

“Oh my God, Amelia!” Emma shouted, standing up from the couch and running to Amelia as she entered the house. Emma started to fuss, angry and confused questions spilling from her as August ran in from the other room. 

“I’m fine.” Amelia shrugged her mother off of her shoulders. “It’s not even my blood.” 

Whatever Emma was saying just became a garbled mess in her ears. Amelia just walked past them, up the stairs with her mother and father in tow until she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut, turning the lock until it clicked. 

The water that came out of the faucet when Amelia turned the knob was hot and felt good against her numb skin. The water that fell into the bath tub turned pink as it sloshed against her skin, taking away the flakes of blood from Peter. She peeled off her clothes and wrapped her robe around her clean body, and she opened the door to find her parents still waiting for her. 

She looked up at them and raised her brow. “See? I’m fine. No open wounds or anything, it was just an accident.”

Emma and August were speechless, for the first time in Amelia’s life, she just walked past them and into her room. When she changed into her pajamas, she slipped in between the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. The last thing she saw before she drifted away to dream was Peter’s eyes melting from gold to blue.


	3. Chapter 3

It only seemed like a moment has passed when Amelia opened her heavy eyelids, her vision slowly bringing her room into focus. Light poured in through her window, white curtains softly flowed with the breeze, though she didn't remember opening it the night before. Her body shifted and she felt something solid at the foot of her bed. Amelia sat up to see her father sitting there, staring down at his folded hands.

“Dad?”

He didn’t move for a moment, he only took a deep breath before turning his head to look at her. August gave his daughter a small smile. “Did you sleep well?”

Amelia’s brow knitted together as she pieced together exactly what had happened before she fell sleep. Peter, those other boys, the dead man on the ground, they all weighed heavy on her mind.

“Storybrooke is a very special place. I know it’s something not a lot of people understood, but you were always one to think so.” August continued. Amelia pressed her lips together remembering when she was a child. A lot of people could only dream of magic and Amelia lived in a town full of it. Storybrooke was protected, many people just passed it by and those who came did not stay very long either. They had to protect the town, the people, from the world of people who just didn’t understand. “So you know, what happened last night…”

“Dad,” Amelia pushed the covers back and got up from her bed. “I told you, nothing happened.”

“They found the body, Amelia.”

To be honest, part of Amelia thought it was just a dream. What she saw.

“Peter is still missing.”

“Dad it wasn’t him.” Amelia spoke up to his defense. “There were others there.”

August stood up and touched her shoulder. “You were covered in blood last night, you can’t tell me-”

“I’M FINE!” Amelia yelled. “Nothing happened to me, Peter made sure of it. Those boys are doing something to him, he is just a victim in this.”

“I believe you, Amelia, but when you come home in the middle of the night, refusing to talk about anything, or even explain to us what is going on, do you even know what that all looks like to us?” Her dad kept a calm head about it, but she could see something much more intense behind his eyes. He took a deep breath and held on to both of Amelia’s shoulders. “Just talk to me, please?”

Something in Amelia snapped. She wasn’t sure what it was but it felt like her heart tried to break free of the binds that held it in her chest. She felt her brows knit together and before she could think of anything to say, her throat caught. “Daddy…”

He didn’t say anything, just pulled her in close and she wrapped her arms around his body. For a few moments they just stood there, silently. Amelia just let her father protect her in the best way he could. “I don’t know what to do…”

She felt his chest expand as he took a breath in, contemplating what to say. “You do whatever you can.” In that moment, her eyes widened. “I made the mistake of not protecting your mother when she needed me most. It was the biggest mistake of my life. Just… do whatever you need to do.”

 -

By the time the sun lay low in the sky, Amelia had her heart set on going to the library. Her mind was a mess, but there was something that pulled her back to the library - besides needing to work on homework - one thing in particular that she wanted to know.

What made Peter act the way he did?

He had stood there as if the world was a blur to him, glossy eyed and cold. She had never, ever seen him that way. All the years she had know Peter Jones, which was every year she could remember, he had been a sweet, quiet kid who wouldn’t hurt a fly if you paid him too. Years of watching him struggle around wolfstime, unable to pass over the fact that he could kill someone… it had all disappeared in a single moment.

She had to know why and she knew it had to do with those boys.

The library was busier than she liked. Belle and Aurora stood behind the counter marking and putting away books, and Amelia slipped in before either of them looked up. It didn’t take her long to find the particular book she had been looking for, the old worn-out cover with the faded, scripted title of Lycanthropy was pretty easy to find. Amelia originally came across it when she first learned that Peter had inherited the curse from his mother. She had just skimmed through the pages, then, uninterested in the majority of the text, but this time she was going to look more carefully in hopes she could find some answers.

She picked a table and started to sift through the pages one by one, skimming over passages that she already knew from listening to Ruby herself. But there was one passage that caught her eye.

_Dominant or Alpha werewolves can exhort physical or mental prowess over those of the weaker nature, even weaker Alphas up to the point of affecting an entire pack. Depending on the strength of the dominant mind and the weakness of others, control can be of varying degrees, from simple influence to complete manipulation of the mind and body._

“I have a question for you.”

Amelia snapped the book shut at the sound of a foreign voice. Cali, a dark skinned, dark eyed, dark haired girl who she shared a few classes with was bent over the edge of the table, her elbows resting on Amelia’s table.

Amelia just stared at her. “And that is?”

Cali flipped a piece of her hair over her shoulder, ignorant of Amelia‘s nearly noticeable annoyed tone. “What’s the deal with you and Peter?”

She rolled her eyes at that question. “There is no ‘deal’ with Peter and me.” That may have been a lie and Amelia brushed the tip of her nose. “Peter and I have been friends since we were little, and we are still friends now…”

“Oh come on. He gives you pie all the time.” Cali’s eyes widened as if that was something obvious.

“What are you talking about?”

“You two have that little name thing going for you, like ‘Peter Jones’ and ‘Amelia Booth’, which is kind of cute. And he stares at you, all the time.”

Amelia didn’t know if she could handle much more than this. What was this girl trying to do exactly? “Look, Cali. I really don’t have time for this.” Amelia got up and brushed the book into her bag in a swift motion. “Nor do I really care.” And she left.

She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Cali’s question bothered her more than she thought it should. With everything that had been going on the last few days, she was unsure where she and Peter stood. They had grown up together and she supposed she always knew that Peter had a crush on her. Then there was the pie. And the fact that whenever they were in a room together, their eyes always seemed to meet. Of course, there was that kiss to top it all off.

A year or two ago she would have said that Peter was her best friend. But as time went on, she became less certain of what they were.

She turned a corner on her way home and something made her stop cold. Amelia looked up and saw two boys from the night before, Dev and one with dark hair. Their cold gaze caused her blood to chill. And then the next moment when she blinked, they were gone.

All of the information she had in her mind wrenched together like twine. They were werewolves too. Of course they were. Dev and the boys were a pack and they were pulling in Peter as if he was a prize. They were reigning him in and last night, Amelia stopped them.

With a quick turn on her heel, she headed toward the diner. She had to tell Ruby. She had expected to see the place bustling with the dinner time rush, but windows were dark and empty, the chalk board was no where to be found and the red ‘sorry, we’re closed’ sign hung on the door. It was strange, even when Ruby was gone she had enough employees to keep it open. Amelia ran around to the Inn’s side door in hopes she would run across Ruby there. She got more than that though.

As soon as she opened the door she regretted it. Her mother stood there next to Ruby, who had her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. Killian was leaning against the wall behind his wife.

“Stay away from my son.” Ruby seethed. Amelia had never seen her this way before. She could reach out and grab the tension in the air with her hands.

“Ruby, I have a job to do. I am the Sherriff.” Emma held her ground.

“That doesn’t mean you get to barge in here and accuse my son of murder!” Ruby shot back. It was like neither of them realized Amelia was there. She caught the eye of Killian, but he remained silent.

“I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I have a body and a missing kid, so excuse me if I connect some of these lines here. I am going to find him, with or without your help.”

Emma went in one direction, Ruby rubbed her hands over her face and went in the other. That left Killian alone.

“Quite the pair.” Killian said, his eyes lazily turning back to Amelia. She was amazed at how calm he seemed to be. “Can you do me a favor, Amelia?”

“What’s that?”

“Look after my boy.”

Amelia must have made a face, because Killian smirked. “What do you mean by that?”

He pushed himself away from the wall and sauntered over to her. “It’s been a while since I was a young lad, but I know how things work. I know that things haven‘t been real good between our families, pirates and princesses don‘t usually mix well. But I do know one thing: you are good for him. You‘re mother and I may not particularly enjoy each other, but I do like you.”

“Fewer insults would make that easier to believe.” Amelia was blunt and Killian took no time in breaking out into a short laugh.

“But not as much fun, love.” He said as he turned to leave.

“Wait a moment, I think-” She stopped as he faced her again, meeting a familiar face to Peter’s. Worn and a little troubled but bright with sparkling blue eyes. “I think I know what’s happening to Peter. Those boys…”

“They are werewolves too.”

Amelia felt a certain kind of defeat. Perhaps she should have know she wouldn’t be the only one to figure this out. “Yes.”

Killian shook his head. “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The enchanted forest, those magical realms, they aren’t the only ones with creatures like this. Even in this magic-free world, you can find strange things here and there. Werewolves are one of those things. Years ago a pack came looking for Ruby. They changed her.” He looked down and Amelia knew he was revisiting a memory he was not fond of.

“But Ruby can’t leave the town, that would mean-”

“That didn’t mean they wouldn’t try. Their arguments were very convincing.” He recalled. “Ruby has always carried this self loathing in her heart, for the things she had done. She had a chance to not only forget, but to restart. At the risk of losing herself, of course. But when you carry a certain amount of hatred for the person you are, losing yourself starts to sound like a prize.”

Amelia didn’t like his words, but they certainly rang true. It was the first time in a long while she had seen Killian Jones this serious.

He carried on. “It’s at a time like this, when you have a choice, one life or another. It’s when you see what is really important. What you lose, what you gain, there is always something you find you can’t live without.”

“Is that what Ruby realized?” Amelia held onto her breath as she asked.

Killian chuckled. “I would like to think she felt she couldn’t live without me, but even I am not sure. But I can tell you this, I was ready to do whatever it took to keep Ruby from leaving. At the time, those wolves knew it too.”

From what Amelia had heard, no one could really pinpoint the time when Ruby and Killian became a real thing. It just sort of happened, and then Peter came into the picture. But from what the pirate was telling her, she could start to see it.

Killian took something out of his coat pocket and handed it to Amelia. Wrapped in cloth was a shiny hook, not the one he currently wore, this one was nearly untouched, except for a small scratch near the tip. “I still have both of my hands, you know.”

“If this is anything like that day years ago, you are going to need it. It’s a pure silver hook.” He told her.

“Why do I need a silver hook?”

Killian just smiled and shook his head as if a little frustrated. “I am not going to lie to you, Amelia. Peter has always been smitten with you. And from what your mother has blabbered on about, you have already crossed their paths once. They won't let Ruby or I anywhere near them. They may be fast, but predictable. You may be the only thing stopping Peter from leaving. That makes you a target, love.”

Amelia held the hook in her hands, staring at her warped reflection. “I don’t understand…”

“A wise young girl once told me she knew love when she saw it. I didn’t understand her at the time, but I do now. Why are you so concerned with Peter in the first place?”

Amelia’s mouth opened to answer, but quickly closed when she couldn’t quite find an answer. At that, Killian gave her a smug smile and disappeared down the hallway after his wife, leaving Amelia alone with her thoughts and a silver hook.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a single glow in the dark star pasted on the ceiling of Amelia's room. There used to be hundreds of them, when she was little August and Henry spent hours glueing them up there as a birthday present. Amelia didn't even notice them until August tucked her in that night after her party. He shut off the lights and she remembered being in awe of glowing sea of stars.

She used to have a flashlight stowed under her pillows so when she woke in the middle of the night, as she was no sleeping beauty, Amelia could reenergize the stars when they started to lose their glow.

Years had passed and one by one her stars fell from her sky and got swept away or broken. Only one remained. Her flashlight had broken years ago and she had not replaced it, the silver hook Killian gave to her earlier that evening rested in its place. Amelia wished she had the flashlight instead, as her one star dimmed too much for her liking.

She had slept for a little bit, but she didn't know for how long, or exactly when she woke up, or for how long she had been laying there, staring up at her one star. Her clock on her bed stand read two o'clock, deep red numbers against the silver moonlight that light up her room tonight. Amelia took a deep breath and returned to staring above her at, well, nothing.

At what point would Peter stop inhabiting her brain like n overgrown weed? When would the images of Peter and the dead man in the woods finally sift from her memories?

You need to forget about him, she told herself. Who was she to stop Peter from leaving? The children of Storybrooke all faced the choice. Most of their parents couldn't leave without losing their identities, memories, half of the person they were, unless they paid the price for Mr. Gold's magical potion. But the kids? They could come and go as they pleased. Many left, few came back.

Killian asked her to look after him, but he didn't ask her to make Peter stay. If Ruby had left all those years ago, she would have lost so much. Peter didn't have anything to lose.

Maybe it would be good for him, to be with his own kind. Werewolves...

Amelia swallowed the lump that formed in her throat at the thought. What were they? Two infatuated teenagers with very limited options... What was that compared to an entire world of possibilities. What was she compared to all the other girls in the world?

Of course it was foolish of Amelia to think that this all boiled down to girls. But for the longest time, she always felt in the back of her mind that Peter may have been the only option for her in this town. She spent years ignoring it, debating it, trying to prove it wrong but...

She reached under her pillow and felt the smooth curve of the hook. Killian said she would need it. What exactly did he think was going to happen?

The first tap she heard, she thought it was her imagination, the dead of night playing tricks on her. But the second, then the third, they send a shiver through her veins and her heart jumped through her throat at a shadow danced on her wall. There was someone on the trellis, hanging onto her windowsill, attempting to open her window.

Hook in hand, Amelia threw her covers back and carefully got out of bed as the window slid open, which she was somehow grateful it was silent, and a large body crawled though and into her room. But he didn't even have to turn around for Amelia to recognize the wide shoulders and the dark, unruly hair. The boy she had seen nearly every day she had ever lived. The boy who was a suspected murderer in the eyes of the town and the boy she knew still held his innocence.

"Peter..." The hook fell from her fingers as she whispered and it landed on a pile of discarded clothes before Amelia flung herself at the boy in her room, landing in his arms at his surprise. It only took a second for him to wrap his arms around her waist as well.

It was at that moment she wished that she had worn more than just an old band tee and shorts to bed, but in the next she didn't even care. She didn't care as Peter Jones's rough hands ran up her back, dragging the soft fabric along for the ride. She didn't care when her legs were intertwined with his as she pulled herself up to meet his lips, fingers locked around his neck to hold her up.

The only time she came up to breath was when he had pressed her gently against the wall, not a single sound had been made besides their breaths and the wet sounds their lips had made.

"Where have you been?" She asked him, breathless.

He shook his head, as if he couldn't tell her, or wouldn't tell her. "I had to see you. I had to-"

The walls of the old house were as thick and solid as stone, the only time she had ever heard her parents having sex was when she passed by their room by the stairs which was on the other side of the house. The whispers and small noises she made would not be heard by a single soul as she kissed Peter like she had a fever and the only remedy was him.

Amelia had grown up in a town where her grandparents, a prince and princess or a king or queen, whichever they actually were, were the same age as her mother, who was also a princess. Her father had once been an inanimate object, a puppet. There were 'dwarves' and a shrunken giant and werewolves and many more people who were simple characters in Disney films to the rest of the world. She had grown up in a world where everyone had their own identity, two in fact. A world were they had been so certain of their destinies and it just made her all that more confused about her own. She didn't know who she was or where she belonged, she was a 'princess' without a castle or a kingdom. Amelia Booth was not in any fairytales, she did not have her own story.

But she had never been so sure about something before tonight.

Her body grew hot and she could feel Peter's skin reaching a similar temperature beneath her fingertips. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and his hands pressed on her thigh and back to hold her up. Each kiss sent him back more and more until he was bent forward and laying her on her bed. Over her, she could feel him trembling, his arms shook trying to contain himself. He stopped, took his lips away from hers and looked at her. She could see his large blue eyes reflecting the moonlight and she knew all he could see was her.

She sat herself back up, Peter kept himself close. Her hand reached for his face but he seemed to shy away for a moment before accepting her touch. Heat flushed her body, Amelia wanted him more by every passing second.

"Shut up." She said as he opened his mouth to say something, and he obediently closed his lips. She got up and went to lock her door, then grabbed a foil packet from the back of her nightstand drawer before settling herself on Peter's lap. No words were said as hands found themselves on their bodies, as clothes were quickly discarded onto the floor or as they prepared themselves for each other.

The night went on as a boundary was crossed that would never go unforgotten. The moon shone so high as Peter thrust into her more gentle and caring than she could imagine. His movements were perfect and her body accepted them with little hesitation, although each and every sound she wished she could scream became caught in the depths of her throat. Heavy and hot breath burned into their skin and fingernails pressed into each others flesh.

He had snuck into her room, knowing he was the object of a town-wide manhunt and she had taken him into her bed. He had wanted to say something to her and she just hushed him and taken off all of his clothes.

She didn't care about anything. Not about the other boys, not about her mother, not about the fact that it just may ruin everything for them.

Her entire body was humming with the feeling after they had finished. and she drifted to sleep against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.

-  
Her room was still dark even though she knew the sun was starting to seep over the horizon. Her bed was colder, her floor was neater and she was all alone.

For a moment she sat up quickly in bed as if to catch him leaving, but Peter was already gone, the only evidence of their night was her lack of clothes and a note on her nightstand weighted by the silver hook with her name scrawled in his thin, neat handwriting.

He had managed to not only write the note, but also clean up her room and she didn't even wake up.

She reached for the note with a slight tremble in her fingers and the piece of paper felt heavier in her hand than the hook did.

_Amelia Booth,_

_I had to see you, I wanted to say so many things to you but you never gave me the chance. But I'm happy things went the way they did. I wont forget, I'll never forget. The image of your body will never leave my mind. You are possibly the most heavenly creature to ever grace this land._

She shook her head at his choice of words. Only Peter could ever get away with saying something like that.

_I wanted to ask you to run away with me. They want me to leave, to join them, but all I really wanted was you. I had this idea in my head of us running away to New York or Miami or San Francisco, wherever you wanted to go. But then you would be my whole world. And they want something else. As long as you are with me, you are in danger. I wish I could have stayed with you in that bed forever. But you deserve better. They said they would kill you. I'm sorry. I love you._

_Goodbye._

_Peter Jones._

-

She didn't cry. Is that what regular girls do when a boy sleeps with them and then leaves a note saying 'I love you and goodbye forever' so he could run off with some boys he just met? Or would they be as mad as she was right then and there.

He wasn't allowed to just leave. Oh, when Amelia got her hands on him...

"That stupid, fucking wolf boy!" She wasn't sad, she was just pissed. 

The town was just waking up when she hit the streets. Her hair was a bit more disheveled than usual, she was pretty sure her socks didn't match but it wasn't much of a concern to her. She needed to talk to Ruby. If Peter was still in town, if there was any chance, his mother could find him. If there was any chance...

Amelia knew if he crossed the town line, he would be lost. Those boys could take him anywhere and she would not be able to find Peter. She wasn't going to let him go that easy.

She would not take that chance.


End file.
